The DICT Development Group
3 definitions found
for necromancy
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :
Necromancy \Nec"ro*man`cy\, n. [OE. nigromaunce, nigromancie,
OF. nigromance, F. n['e]cromance, n['e]cromancie, from L.
necromantia, Gr. ?; nekro`s a dead body (akin to L. necare to
kill, Skr. na[,c] to perish, vanish) + ? divination, fr. ?
diviner, seer, akin to E. mania. See Mania, and cf.
Internecine, Noxious. The old spelling is due to
confusion with L. niger black. Hence the name black art.]
The art of revealing future events by means of a pretended
communication with the dead; the black art; hence, magic in
general; conjuration; enchantment. See Black art.
[1913 Webster]
This palace standeth in the air,
By necromancy plac[`e]d there. --Drayton.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) :
necromancy
n 1: the belief in magical spells that harness occult forces or
evil spirits to produce unnatural effects in the world
[syn: sorcery, black magic, black art, necromancy]
2: conjuring up the dead, especially for prophesying
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :
43 Moby Thesaurus words for "necromancy":
alchemy, bewitchery, bewitchment, charm, divination, enchantment,
fetishism, glamour, gramarye, hoodoo, juju, jujuism, magic,
mediumism, natural magic, obeah, rune, seance, shamanism, sitting,
sorcery, sortilege, spell, spellbinding, spellcasting, spirit,
spiritism, spiritualism, sympathetic magic, thaumaturgia,
thaumaturgics, thaumaturgism, thaumaturgy, theurgy, vampirism,
voodoo, voodooism, wanga, white magic, witchcraft, witchery,
witchwork, wizardry
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